Jail for knife-wielding addict who tried to rob Rotherham driverhttps://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/n ... _27697.htmA TEENAGER who tried to rob a taxi driver at knifepoint so he could feed his cocaine addiction has been jailed.
Adam Brockhurst (18), of Kingsway, Thurnscoe, tried to rob Mohammed Yasin in the early hours of the morning by brandishing a kitchen knife at him. Mr Yasin managed to disarm Brockhurst and drive away from the incident unharmed.
Recorder Peter Hampton sentenced Brockhurst at Sheffield Crown Court last Friday to 14 months in a young offenders’ institution, having reduced his sentence due to his borderline learning difficulties and “exceptional personal mitigation”.
He had admitted attempted robbery and possession of a bladed article at an earlier hearing.
The court heard Brockhurst climbed into Mr Yasin’s taxi on Southfield Way, Thurnscoe, at around 5.35am on April 12 and brandished a kitchen knife.
Mr Yasin managed to grab hold of the knife following a struggle and was not hurt during the incident but said in a statement read in court that he had feared for his personal safety.
“I could have been seriously injured or worse,” he said.
Recorder Hampton said Brockhurst seemed to have become involved with cocaine and had developed a serious habit.
He said: “I’m satisfied that your motive for calling the taxi was to rob the driver so you could buy cocaine.
“Robbery is a serious offence and knife crime is a serious offence.
“The message from this court must go out to young people considering carrying knives that custodial sentences will follow.
“It was your decision to take cocaine, it was your choice to rob your victim and your choice to take a knife with you in doing so.”
Recorder Hampton said he acknowledged that Brockhurst was genuinely remorseful, had acted out of character and would not have acted in the way he did had he not developed a cocaine habit.
He said Brockhurst had been the victim of a very serious assault while in custody and recognised that a custodial sentence would have more of an impact on him than other 18-year-olds.
The recorder said Brockhurst had borderline learning difficulties which in his view affected his culpability.
Recorder Hampton said that because of Brockhurst’s “exceptional personal mitigation” he had reduced his jail term as much as possible.
But he added: “I have concluded that this offence is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified.”
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